Wrestling matches, Raiderette meet-and-greets, and a Marine pull-ups test. What does any of this have to do with a music festival? Absolutely nothing, but they all somehow made it to LIVE105’s BFD event and fulfilled every type of attention span.

The Shoreline Amphitheatre’s grounds thrived with plenty of activities for the thousands of attendees, including a broadcast tent where LIVE105’s staff sat down to chat with headliners for all to watch. Not to mention the four stages that totalled eleven hours worth of performances.

It was great to see all the support crowded around the local stage, where Leopold & His Fiction kicked off with a vigorous set. There was so much energy carried from the three members, that even drummer Jon Sortland’s sunglasses flew off his face from drumming so furiously.

“Dude that was like, heroin rock,” described a crowd member.

Leopold & His Fiction

Next was five-piece band Veil Veil Vanish who got people dancing in the sweltering weather in preparation for I The Mighty who’s songs like “Technicolor” started a mosh in the audience. Even guitarist Ian Pedigo commented. “You guys are the sexiest, most energetic crowd we’ve played for.”

Lead singer Mike Garmany of The Holdup

The Holdup kept blunts going around with solid reggae sounds that deserved them an encore they unfortunately didn’t follow through. But it was interesting enough watching girls’ faces turn red from screaming for the group as they threw shirts and love notes on stage. San Jose alternatives, I Am Empire, also occupied the stage and quickly blew out the sound during the second song of their set. How’d they react? By playing “We Will Rock You” until they were audible over the loudspeakers again – and they recovered like champs.

I Am Empire after sound outage

Cage the Elephant was on first of the main stage headliners, followed by Silversun Pickups; and it was unfortunate to see the vacancy of seats for both performances. That is, until Courtney Love finally showed up with Hole (am I allowed to call them that?).

Courtney Love dodging photographers

An area was cleared backstage for Love to bolt past photographers and the new “Hole” band members opened up with a medley of songs that completed with a cover of “Sympathy for the Devil,” after which Courtney had everybody scream, Fuck you! Trailing along was “Skinny Little Bitch,” the band’s first single in ten years, along with tracks dating back to the first Hole album, Pretty on the Inside.

But they weren’t the only blast from the past gracing the Shoreline with their arrival. The Deftones indefinitely stole the show once band members took their instruments in hand. Chino Moreno played with such energy, jumping off his platform and practically head banging into the ground, that it was hard not to be hypnotized by the screaming 45 minutes charged with skull shaking reverbs and stomach-pitted drums.

Last to showcase was long awaited and rejuvenated Sublime w/ Rome. I was able to catch up to the soon to be 22-year-old who’s responsibility is to keep Bradley Nowell’s legacy alive; and when I asked of outside reactions toward his new role, Rome replied, “Feedback has been great!”

New Sublime addition Rome Ramirez

Now if only I could say the same thing of their performance. Of course, the already popular songs the original band established got everyone in the crowd to sing along, but it was very disappointing to see little movement and the lack of enthusiasm from the trio themselves. Which got me wondering: how did Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh go about recruiting Rome Ramirez to begin with?

“A girl I know, knows this engineer who introduced me to Eric,” Ramirez explained. So I guess it’s just that simple – and the rest is history. The kid can now cross LIVE105’s BFD event off his to-do list.

To check out more pictures of my day at the festival, check out Record Pressing’s Facebook page!

I know!! I was pretty bummed to have missed them. As soon as I got back from taking photos, a friend asked me, “Did you catch Northern Son?” So it’s been rubbed in my face a few times, haha. If you have photos, feel free to post them onto our Facebook page. Glad you had a good time at the festival!